Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said if Karachi moves [in terms of economy] the whole country moves; therefore, Karachi has to be developed faster for which he is making all-out efforts and utilizing local resources and expertise of donor agencies to make it livable and city of peace and prosperity.
This he said while speaking at an eight-member delegation of Chinese state-owned company Energy China, led by its president Luo Bixiong, who called on him at the CM House to discuss and explore ways and means to work together with the Sindh government in water sector, water distribution in Karachi.
The meeting discussed K-IV project which has been halted temporarily to make necessary changes on its design. "National engineering firm, NESPAC is working on its design and as soon as it is finalized work would be started," chief minister said and added that the K-IV was most important project and would ensure to its completion.
The chief minister pointed out that Karachi was the city of 17 million souls and its water requirement has been estimated at 1200 gallon per day but it was receiving only 500 MGD. "We are working on different options to increase bulk water supply to the city so that its domestic as well as industrial requirement could be met," he said.
The meeting discussed different options for working together. The Hub River source conveyance system has flaws and faults, therefore line losses have been recorded much higher than the acceptable. The Chinese company showed interest to improve the system from Hub Source to Karachi.
The Chinese company on the chief minister's request, said they would work out details, including the estimated cost to install a 100 MGD desalination plant in Karachi. It was pointed out that in the past the desalination technology was uneconomical but now the latest technology has not only turned to be economical but more efficient.
The third proposal which came under discussion was treatment of Malir River waste water to use it for industrial purposes. The Chinese company said they would work out a plant for treatment of waste water for Sindh government. The Chinese firm was told that the provincial government was working with FWO on K-IV phase-I, therefore, the Chinese firms showed interest to work in phase-II and III of K-IV and proposed that if the cost project was too high it could be included in CPEC projects.
The chief minister told that he was working on different sectors such as infrastructure, water and sanitation and energy so that real investment in different sectors could be ensured. "When you have best infrastructure, water and energy in surplus the investors will automatically throng to invest here," he said and added it was the reason he was developing infrastructure of the city and was working to resolve water shortage issue.
Shah directed Planning & Development department to have another meeting with Chinese firm to firm up recommendations for working together in water sector. Food Processing Industry: In another meeting with Ambassador of Netherland Willem Wouter Plomp, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah discussed investment opportunities in food processing industry in Karachi.
The ambassador said their food processing industrial expertise was world known and their investors were keen to work in Sindh. They also discussed investment opportunities in agriculture, animal husbandry and production of highbred seed. The chief minister and the visiting diplomat agreed to set a meeting of his country's investors with Investment department of Sindh to move ahead in investment.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019
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